Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 82579 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82579 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
I bound over the desk. Dad raises his hands, and there might’ve been a time when he could’ve defended himself from me, but that time was at least twenty years earlier. Now he’s old and he lost a step and I’m in my prime.
He topples backwards as I pummel him. We collapse into an undignified heap behind the desk. He tries rolling and grappling, but I punch his arms away, landing blow after blow.
“Connor!” he yells but it’s muffled when I slam a forearm into his mouth. He knees me in the crotch and shoves me back enough to shout again, louder this time. “Connor, help!”
There’s a slam at the door. Alex is there, holding it closed, as the kid named Connor pounds at it. I hit Dad again, and again, and again, before wrapping my hands around his throat.
His face is a wreck. His nose is bent and bloody, and blood is seeping between his crooked teeth. He snarls, animalistic, thrashing and fighting for his life. If I hadn’t done this before, it might take me off guard. People can be shockingly strong when they’re not holding back. When the only way to survive is to give it everything.
But I have a good grip.
“It’s time,” I say, breathing hard, sweat rolling down my face. “You’ve had long enough.”
“Fuck,” he gags, choking, face turning purple. “You. Mistake.”
I squeeze tighter. “You were never worthy.”
One last buck. He tries to throw me off, but I’m firmly planted. I stare into my father’s eyes as gunshots go off behind me. Connor must be trying to get through. I don’t bother looking. I want to see death take my father.
It comes for him, and the darkness in me screams with victory.
Oleg Federov goes still and slack. I keep holding on and wait longer, longer, wait for the light to go out from his eyes, wait until I’m sure he’s dead and gone, before I finally let him go.
I check his pulse. There’s nothing.
I push myself to my feet, shaking from exertion and adrenaline.
“What the fuck?” Connor the guard’s standing at the door. It’s open now, and Alex is crouching to the side. Clearly, he had to get out of the way when the shooting started.
Connor aims a gun at me, but it wavers.
“Oleg’s dead,” I tell him, staring him down.
If he pulls that trigger, it’s all over.
He looks at my father’s dead body. “You killed him.”
“I took control of this family. You might think you were loyal to him, but that was never true. You’re loyal to the Federov name. You’re loyal to the money we pay you. Now I’m my father. What are you going to do?”
“I was his guard.” The gun trembles. This fucking kid’s going to kill me by accident.
“And I was his son. Lower the weapon. That’s an order. You have a choice to make. Either join me and have purpose, or kill me and torch your life for no reason at all.”
Connor’s face twists in dismay, but slowly, the weapon lowers.
“What do you want me to do?” he asks softly.
There are shouts from the other room. I stride past my new employee and into the entry hall. Adriano stands there with six more Italian killers, all of them strapped and prepared for action, while my father’s guards lurk in the doorways and on the second floor.
Nobody’s shooting yet, which is good.
“Brother,” I greet Adriano and shake his hand.
“How are things here?”
“Oleg’s dead. I’m the new chief.”
Adriano’s smile is grim. “All hail the new chief then.”
I turn to face the remainder of my father’s guards. I can see the skepticism in their eyes, but they must’ve heard Connor’s shooting. They knew something bad just happened, only they don’t know what yet.
“My father is dead. He had a heart attack while working at his desk.” I stare at them, daring them to disagree. Nobody does. “I’m in control of the family now. Lower your weapons.”
“Why are the Italians here?” one man calls out.
“They’re insurance. They’re allies. If you all decide you want to make the wrong decision, my friends here will make sure you change your minds. Do you understand now?”
Slowly, my father’s former soldiers put away their guns.
Smart men know when it’s time to fight and when it’s time to bend the knee. And my father was always good at hiring smart men.
One by one, they come down and hail me as boss, chief, and leader. All the while, I’m backed by Adriano and his men, while Connor and Alex watch from the hallway.
“I want everything,” I tell them and grab Connor by the arm. “All my father’s documents. Everything worthwhile. And he’s going to make sure nothing’s forgotten.”
Connor stands a little straighter. “That’s right.”
“I want the house packed up in twenty minutes. Get moving.”
There’s silence. Then the first of my father’s former soldiers head back down the hall, and the rest of them behind moving.